We had a great visit with Mazie's Grandpa, and Great Grandma, as everyone can probably see with all the pictures that got taken. I think they had a good time meeting their new family member.

Mazie's headed to her first birthday party with Mom today. Carly's daughter Danielle is having a party, which should be fun.

Michelle and I have fallen into a routine, where I take care of Mazie during the night while Michelle sleeps, feeding, changing and such, since I'll likely be awake during those hours, and she takes care of Mazie during the day while I'm sleeping. So far it's worked out well... although it seems like Mazie likes to sleep during the day, and be awake with Dad all night. It's OK though, we just watch some TV, have some food, and chill while Mom gets some rest.

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Taken this morning by Michelle... Just hanging out. We stared at each other for about 20 minutes before she passed out, then I did. Our little monkey is pretty awesome...

Mazie's home today!

We had a great time giving her another bath. She's eating well, but right now, at 12 midnight, when Ma, and Dad are starting to get sleepy after such a long day, she's decided she's not tired at all, and is quite fussy.

Oh well, we knew it was going to be like this... and even though it's rather rough, and she's setting our schedule right now, we're gonna get through it together. It's just awesome having her home.

Earlier today, she fell asleep sitting on my chest as I was burping her. It's weird having something that feels so comfortable around you that it just passes out in your hands. Weird, but pretty awesome.

Mazie's coming home tomorrow...

Not much else I can say! Can't wait!

Mazie is now on Ad-lib feeds, which means she eats when she 'asks' for it. She's got the tube out of her nose finally too. Nurses are saying that as long as everything continues this way she'll be home with us within a week.

She's doing awesome!

Mazie is kickin' ass, and takin' names. She's nippling most of her feeds the whole way now. The nurses are beginning to talk about 'ad lib' feeding, which means rather than force her to eat every 3 hours, they feed her when she's acting hungry, just as we would at home. It's just about the final step before what the call 'rooming in', which is basically spending the night in a room at the hospital with her. The nurse we spoke with today puts it at max two weeks. That particular nurse has worked in the NICU for 25+ years... so we're putting some stock in what she's saying.

Mazie's also over 5 pounds now. She's a little piggy!

Another good day for our little monkey!

She's up to 46 Ml of food now, still at 22 Calories. She's still having trouble doing the full feeds, but she's nippling 2 out of every 3 feeds, and every time she's nippled, she's acting like she wants to eat.

We got a pediatrician, and bought the rest of our baby stuff today. Now it's just up to Mazie. She needs to be nippling every feed, and eating all or most of it just about every time.

Well, no posts lately, because there's been no real news to speak of. Mazie's been kinda stagnant until today, and yesterday.

However, today and yesterday, she started nippling very, very well, taking most of her food every other feeding via a bottle, and during other feedings acting like she wanted a bottle, rather than what I've been calling her "Nostril feedings". The nurse I spoke with today said that as long as she continues to show improvement in that arena, and can nipple all her feedings without falling asleep early on, she could be home in a week or so.

She's up to 45 ml of food every feeding, and she's keeping it all down with no problems, no spit ups, or anything.

Michelle is doing OK now, after getting something called Mastitis, which is basically an infection of the breast tissue, often experienced by breastfeeding mothers who are using a pump rather than directly feeding the baby. She got some antibiotics for it, and her fever appears to have broken last night. She's going a bit stir crazy not being able to visit her kid though... She'll be back at 100% soon, and visiting Mazie ASAP.

No news is good news at this point. Mazie is doing OK still. Just growing up, and trying to stretch that tummy of hers out.

I added some new photos. Other than that, not really anything new to report. We just want her home...

Mazie's in a regular crib!! Yay!!

She's able to keep her temperature constant for over 24 hours now, and is doing really well. We're really happy about it.

Unfortunately, I'm an idiot, and I forgot to charge the camera, so... no pictures tonight, but I'll get some up tomorrow.

She's still having trouble with the one stumbling block we've been having trouble with for a while. Nurses still say it's not a big deal. We're not too worried about it... we're just going to be patient, and work with her on it. No big deal, just a matter of time!

Mazie's doing pretty good again today. We're just at that same stumbling block we've been at before. She keeps getting incredibly tired during her feedings. She eats a bunch, and then stops, or eats a bunch, and 'Bradys' which basically means she stops eating, and breathing at the same time. Her breathing slows dramatically, and alarms, bells, and whistles go off. You basically just move her and it snaps her back into reality, and breathing again, but she just gets so sleepy.

She's got some growing up to do it seems. It's just incredibly frustrating to see... she's been doing so well up to this point, and now it's not even that she's doing badly... she's just stagnant. I wonder if this was what it was like for my parents to see me in school, knowing all the things I know, but stagnating, and not moving forward. I really hope that I don't have to experience that with Mazie, because this part is just ridiculously frustrating, and disheartening, because it makes me feel so helpless. I like to fix things, and this is something only Mazie can fix.

It'll happen... I just hope it's soon, and I wish there was something I could do.

Today was a good day for our little monkey. She ate pretty well, and is maintaining her temperature so far. We're really hoping she'll be in a regular crib soon. She's completely off the lights at this point. Her bilirubin levels went up slightly, but not enough to be worried about according to the doctor.

She was awake for almost our whole visit at 3 AM today after I got off work. She's incredibly cute when she's watching Michelle, and I through her little portholes... especially when she's starting to nod off a little, but fighting it... and fighting it hard.

I added some pictures to the photobucket.

Unfortunately Mazie's Bilirubin levels went up a bit, so she's not out of the isollete quite yet. They're going to take away the phototherapy again today. Her levels are borderline at this point.

Our biggest concern right now is those bilirubin levels, as that's what seems to be holding her back the most. She gets so tired from doing everything, and trying to filter out all the junk, that she falls asleep during her feedings, and can't take them all by nipple.

At this point... it appears that's the only obstacle that we have to overcome!

Good news today! Mazie will likely be out of the Isolette, and in the room in a little crib thingee tomorrow.

She's still having a bit of trouble with her Bilirubin, but we're not sure if she's going to need the light or not. She's still getting really tired during her feedings, and Michelle, and I learning to not stimulate her quite so much while she's eating. She's just so interested in everything that goes on, and she makes herself tired, particularly when Mom, and Dad are around.

According to the nurses, she's doing much better with the nipple, and actually grabbing for it when she wants to eat.

I haven't been able to see her for a day or so... I'm not sure if I'm coming down with something or not, and thought it better to stay away at this point, just to make sure. I think it could just be allergies, but I'm still not quite sure. I'm going to see what's going on at 3 AM when I get off work to decided.

She's up to 36 Ml of food, which apparently for her weight is the full feeding. They weighed her today at 4 Lbs 3 Oz, which is a huge gain from yesterday, and is possibly a mistake. I'm not quite sure how that works... but it will get figured out.

Mazie is doing great today, as is her Mom.

She drank most of her 1200 noon nipple feedings, and she's up to 22 Ml of food, and at this point is actualy stretching her little tummy out a bit, so not eating the whole thing won't be terribly uncommon at this point.

She's still getting pretty darn tuckered out by her feedings, but she's doing better.

Michelle's doing really well. She's taking it pretty easy and she's healing up quite well.

We're gonna go feed her again at 9 tonight... for now we're watching Get Smart, and hangin' out, takin' it easy.

Mazie 4/2/09